By Kodjo Adams
Accra, May 25, GNA – Seventeen candidates of the Accra Senior High School were absent for Monday’s Integrated Science paper in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination.
Mr Fred Oppong Ampofo, Assistant Headmaster in charge of Academics, Accra High School, has told the Ghana News Agency.
Eight of the absentees were males, while nine were females.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Ampofo, also the Supervisor at the Centre, said a total of 737 candidates registered for the examinations, of which 318 were males and 419 represented females.
“Since the beginning of the exams, we have encountered a few absentees, but today’s figure is a little higher,” he noted.
“Well, maybe being an Integrated Science paper, some of them are running away from the subject, but we will find out after the exams,” he said.
Touching on preparation for the examination, Mr Ampofo said the candidates had gone through guidance and counselling to psychologically prepare them adequately for the examination.
“We have written about three mock exams ahead of the paper, and I am sure with these interventions, the candidates will perform well, raise the image of the school, and qualify for tertiary institutions,” he said.
The 2025 Chief Examiner’s report revealed that the candidates’ performance in Integrated Science was poor in some areas.
The areas were definitions of relative atomic mass, graph work and calculation of slope; wrong spelling of key scientific terminologies; drawing of bar magnets and lines of force
Additionally, description of post-harvest practices such as winnowing, dehusking and shelling; reagents for testing foods in the laboratory; and drawing of genetic diagrams were identified as challenges.
Mr Ampofo said the school was aware of the Chief Examiner’s report and thus educated the candidates on the shortfalls to prepare them for the exams.
“We have asked them not to do the wrong things, which we found in the Chief Examiner’s report.
“We are sure that they listened to us, and so they would not make such mistakes, and would get very good passes,” he said.
He advised the candidates to focus on their studies and avoid any form of exam malpractice.
Mr Anselm Yaw Gyimah, Head of Department for General Science, Aquinas Senior High School, said the school had undertaken interventions, including weekend lessons, highlighting how to define scientific words.
“We are adequately prepared for the exams and put in place interventions with four teachers teaching all the science subjects.
“We are confident that the students would perform better because science is one of our major strongholds,” he said.
He said the school was aware of last year’s Chief Examiner’s report and developed learning techniques by writing a lot of tests to prepare them for the exams.
Mr Michael Narh, a candidate of St Thomas Aquinas Senior High School, said the paper was smooth because the teachers had organised interventions prior to the exams.
“I was able to answer all the questions and look forward to a good grade, nothing below grade B,” he said.
Mrs Olivia Serwaa Opare, Director, STEM Education at the National Science Resource Centre, said the introduction of a standards-based curriculum had made the teaching and learning of science more creative for learners.
The interventions allowed the learners to explore and do more research for better understanding of the subject.
She said the Service believed in effective foundational learning of STEM and that the learners were trained to apply concepts.
“With these interventions we are confident that there will be much better performance in this year’s exams, especially with science and mathematics,” she said.
Last year, the Integrated Science performance recorded a fall to 57.74 percent in 2025, down from 58.77 per cent in 2024.
The subject performance, therefore, dropped from the 66.82 per cent recorded in 2023 and was lower than the 62.45 per cent of 2022.
In 2021, 65.7 per cent of the candidates passed Integrated Science, still making 2025 the weakest result in the four-year period.
GNA
Edited by Beatrice Asamani Savage
Reporter Kodjo Adams
[email protected]